After months of campaigning and an unprecedented change in the Democratic nominee for president, the 2024 general election is finally here.
County election officials began mailing ballots to voters on Monday, kicking off a historic election that wraps at 8 p.m. on Nov. 5. At the top of the ticket is the bout between former Republican President Donald Trump and Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris for the nation’s highest office. Bay Area voters also will decide pivotal races for Congress, the state Legislature and local government, as well as key propositions on crime, housing, school construction, climate change and same-sex marriage.
In preparation last week, county election staffers in the Bay Area tested the tabulation machines that count votes, installed ballot drop boxes and stocked their offices with “I Voted” stickers. Helen Nolan, assistant registrar in Contra Costa County, is expecting to see the high voter turnout that’s typical of a presidential election year.
With the tendency of Californians to vote late and by mail, Nolan and other officials have a message for the voting public, which is sure to be antsy for quick vote-count.
“Make a plan to vote early,” Nolan said.
Enough early votes could allow staff in Contra Costa County to avoid a vote count that drags on well after Nov. 5. It’s been typical for clerks to receive a deluge of vote-by-mail ballots on Election Day since California began mailing a ballot to every registered voter in 2020.
During the primary election in March, the Contra Costa County registrar’s office received 78,000 vote-by-mail ballots on Election Day. Statewide, vote-counting stretched on for weeks — so long that Governor Gavin Newsom postponed his State of the State address to wait for the result of a mental health proposition, which narrowly passed.
This year, Nolan expects up to 90% of the county’s 714,000 voters to participate in the election. Based on past voting trends, that means her office could receive as many as 190,000 ballots on Election Day, she says.
Plus, procrastination puts voters at risk of missing the 8 p.m. deadline when polls close on Election Day. That’s when staff will start turning away in-person voters.
Voting by mail encourages voters to participate in elections by making it more convenient. The downside: It takes staff more time to count those ballots.
Unlike votes cast in-person, mailed ballots must be sorted, verified and removed by hand from their envelopes before they are run through ballot tabulation machines. Election staff will continue to count ballots received up to a week after Election Day, as long as they are postmarked on or before Nov. 5. State law also requires staff to contact voters who forgot to sign their ballot envelope and give them at least eight days to do so.
Long vote counts can frustrate voters and candidates. However, experts say that’s no sign of a “rigged” election, a common refrain of election skeptics.
Nolan isn’t alone is asking the public to vote sooner than later.
“We hope that most people would try to vote early,” said Steve Goltiao, a spokesperson for the Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters. “We just want people to come out and show up at the polls.”
In all likelihood, it may take weeks to know the outcome of an election, said Tim Dupuis, Alameda County’s registrar of voters and chief information officer.
To get a jump on it, voters can cast their ballots in-person at registrar’s offices starting Monday. They can also return their ballots by mail, or drop them at a 24-hour drop-box. Santa Clara County keeps a list of drop box locations on its website.
Contra Costa County residents have slightly fewer options to vote early than their neighbors. That’s because Alameda County, Santa Clara County and San Mateo County implemented the Voters Choice Act, a 2016 law that provides more convenient ways to vote. Those three counties will open in-person voting centers starting Oct. 26 — San Mateo will open some on Monday. Contra Costa County will open fewer in-person voting sites on Nov. 1.
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U.S. citizens who are at least 18 years old still have plenty of time to register to vote before Election Day. The deadline to do so online or by mail is Oct. 21. After that, you still can register conditionally and vote in-person on the same day at the registrar’s office or a voting location.
Santa Clara County is home to more than 1 million registered voters. About 13,000 voters registered between February and September 6, the most recent data available. Last week, staff had decked out the registrar’s office with balloons and U.S. flags in anticipation of the first voters arriving on Monday. For now, the rows of voting stations were silent.
“It’s like the calm before the storm,” said Evelyn Mendez, Santa Clara County’s election division coordinator.
Behind a locked door, a team of dozen employees methodically proofread the voter information guides that are mailed to residences. Depending on a voter’s location, they’ll be sent one of 364 versions of the guide. In a humming warehouse nearby, staff prepared to mail the guides while blasting Led Zeppelin. The cavernous warehouse also holds the county’s ballot drop boxes, which would be placed throughout the county in the coming days, and equipment for more than 100 voting sites.
It’s a huge logistical operation to pull off an election without a hitch, Mendez said. She expects that the office will employ up to 1,400 people to see the election through its peak, who will answer phones, transport ballots, process registrations, verify signatures and conduct other tasks that are critical to a smooth election.
In Alameda County, Dupuis often jokes that his 45-person department becomes the largest in the county during an election year. His office will swell to about 2,000 people in the weeks to come.
“It’s go time for us,” he said.